The Commissioner of State Lands office was recently awarded a $250,000 dollar grant by the Arkansas Natural and Cultural Resources Council (ANCRC) for preservation efforts in the State Capitol office suite. The Commissioner’s office will begin a rehabilitation of the vault located in the Capitol suite mid-July and construction should be complete by the first of December.

The plans include the addition of a humidity control system that will regulate the air in the vault making it safe for the permanent storage of the office’s historic documents. Custom cabinets will be built to hold a variety of books, documents and maps. There will also be the addition of a public research area with a computer terminal in the suite where the public can come and research our online resources. The main public area of the suite will have additional storage cabinets matching the vault and there will be areas for rotating displays of historic documents.

The first phase of the rehabilitation will be demolition work within the Capitol suite. The vault and public area will both have its existing sheetrock, trim, flooring and wiring removed. From there the reconstruction will begin. Please continue to check the website for updates along the way.